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Jewish-Arab Love Story Excluded From Israeli Classrooms Jewish-Arab Love Story Excluded From Israeli Classrooms
(about 3 hours later)
JERUSALEM — Israel’s Ministry of Education has decided not to include a novel about a romance between an Israeli woman and a Palestinian man on the list of required reading for Hebrew high school literature classes, prompting a stormy debate over how Israeli society deals with its cultural divides. JERUSALEM — Israel’s Ministry of Education has decided not to include a novel about a romance between an Israeli woman and a Palestinian man on the list of required reading for Hebrew high school literature classes, prompting a stormy debate over how Israeli society deals with its cultural divides.
Dalia Fenig, the education ministry official who leads the committee responsible for the decision, said that at a time of heightened tension between Israelis and Palestinians, the inclusion of the book, “Borderlife,” by Dorit Rabinyan, “could do more harm than good.”Dalia Fenig, the education ministry official who leads the committee responsible for the decision, said that at a time of heightened tension between Israelis and Palestinians, the inclusion of the book, “Borderlife,” by Dorit Rabinyan, “could do more harm than good.”
“Marrying a non-Jew is not what the education system is educating about,” Ms. Fenig told Ynet, a leading Israeli news site, on Thursday.“Marrying a non-Jew is not what the education system is educating about,” Ms. Fenig told Ynet, a leading Israeli news site, on Thursday.
“That’s the situation,” she added. “One may disagree with it.”“That’s the situation,” she added. “One may disagree with it.”
Teachers had reportedly requested that the book, published in 2014, be included in the recommended curriculum but a professional committee chose to exclude it. Ms. Fenig said that the book had not been banned, and that she did not rule out its inclusion in next year’s list of recommended books for students. She said there were other books in the curriculum that dealt with relationships between Jews and Arabs. Teachers had reportedly requested that the book, published in 2014, be included in the recommended curriculum, but a professional committee chose to exclude it. Ms. Fenig said that the book had not been banned, and that she did not rule out its inclusion in next year’s list of recommendations. She said there were other books in the curriculum that dealt with relationships between Jews and Arabs.
Later Thursday, after a flurry of protests by high school principals and teachers, the education ministry appeared to partially back away from its decision, saying that teachers could recommend the novel to students in advanced literature classes, but not as part of the regular school curriculum, according to Haaretz, the Israeli daily. Later on Thursday, after a flurry of protests by high school principals and teachers, the education ministry appeared to partially back away from its decision, saying that teachers could recommend the novel to students in advanced literature classes, but not as part of the regular school curriculum, according to Haaretz, the Israeli daily.
The education minister, Naftali Bennett, leader of the right-wing Jewish Home party, said that he had not been involved in the decision but that he fully supported it. In an interview on Israel’s Channel 2 television on Thursday night, he said the book described Israeli soldiers as war criminals.The education minister, Naftali Bennett, leader of the right-wing Jewish Home party, said that he had not been involved in the decision but that he fully supported it. In an interview on Israel’s Channel 2 television on Thursday night, he said the book described Israeli soldiers as war criminals.
Isaac Herzog of the center-left Zionist Union party, which leads the parliamentary opposition, posted on his Facebook page on Thursday: “Tell me, are the People of the Book afraid of books? Are the People of the Book afraid of stories? Or would it be more accurate to say that their education minister is afraid of books and stories? This is a dark worldview that does not believe in the judgment of the public, or a younger generation that is much more involved than previous generations.” Isaac Herzog of the center-left Zionist Union, which leads the parliamentary opposition, said on Facebook on Thursday: “Tell me, are the People of the Book afraid of books? Are the People of the Book afraid of stories? Or would it be more accurate to say that their education minister is afraid of books and stories? This is a dark worldview that does not believe in the judgment of the public, or a younger generation that is much more involved than previous generations.”
Mr. Herzog said he bought several copies of Ms. Rabinyan’s “wonderful” book on Thursday morning. Several bookstores said they had sold out of copies of the novel, which tells the story of an Israeli woman from Tel Aviv who falls in love with a Palestinian born in the West Bank city of Hebron after a chance encounter in New York. Mr. Herzog said he bought several copies of Ms. Rabinyan’s “wonderful” book on Thursday. Several bookstores said they had sold out of the novel, which tells the story of an Israeli woman from Tel Aviv who falls in love with a Palestinian born in the West Bank city of Hebron after a chance encounter in New York.
Ms. Rabinyan, the author, said that the book was not meant to be provocative. “Let’s say that it’s strength lies in its subtlety,” she told Ynet in a video interview. “Perhaps there is even a conservative Zionist stance in it,” she said, but she added that whoever read it in the education ministry clearly did not read it from that perspective. The book, she said, was “only a mirror” of the complexity of life in Israel.Ms. Rabinyan, the author, said that the book was not meant to be provocative. “Let’s say that it’s strength lies in its subtlety,” she told Ynet in a video interview. “Perhaps there is even a conservative Zionist stance in it,” she said, but she added that whoever read it in the education ministry clearly did not read it from that perspective. The book, she said, was “only a mirror” of the complexity of life in Israel.